With the US government getting to work on the hot issue of immigration reform, activists for human rights are urging the Obama administration to make sure that the basic human rights of non-citizens are upheld when these decisions are made. Human Rights Watch says that there are four crucial principles that need to be taken into account by immigration authorities in order to avoid any more “injustices” from taking place.
The agency used two decades worth of data to outline their four concrete principles as well as another 26 recommendations that might be of benefit to the US immigration system. Those principles include both respecting and protecting families, providing a legal basis to defend the rights of the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, focus law enforcement efforts on real threats and making sure that due process is safeguarded for all residents, and protecting immigrants from personal violations and crimes in the workplace.
“The current US immigration system is unsustainable, practically, economically and morally,” says the US program director of Human Rights Watch, Alison Parker. “With a new presidential term and a new openness to discuss immigration reform, President Obama and Congress should seize this opportunity to create a fairer, more effective and more humane immigration system.”
The President met with business and labor leaders yesterday in order to gain input from the progressive leaders of the nation, hoping to enable his administration to come up with a program that will fit immigration reform into the wider national agenda that includes global competitiveness and economic growth.